Joel Gustave Nana Ngongang

Joël Gustave Nana Ngongang (born 1982), frequently known as Joel Nana, is a leading African LGBT human rights
advocate and HIV/AIDS activist. Nana's career as an activist and journalist has spanned numerousAfrican countries, including Nigeria and South Africa, in addition tohis native Cameroon. Currently the Africa Research and Policy Associate at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission(IGLHRC), Nana also worked as a Fellow at Behind the Mask, a
Johannesburg-based non-profit media organisation publishing a news
website concerning gay and lesbian affairs in Africa, he has writtenon numerous topics in the area of African LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues and is a frequent media commentator.

The 'Yaoundé Eleven'

Following a raid on a bar in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, in 2005, eleven men were arrested and imprisoned on charges of suspected homosexuality. Nana has been particularly engaged in this issue, dedicating much of his work to publicising the plight ofthe arrested men. Partially as a result of his efforts, on October 10, 2006, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentiondeclared that the detention of the 11 Cameroonian men on the basis oftheir presumed sexual orientation constituted an arbitrary deprivationof liberty contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Career with African LGBT organisations

Nana's career as an LGBT human rights advocate began when he workedwith a Cameroonian gay association called AGALES from 1999 until 2001. He later spent time in Nigeria, where he founded an African LGBTadvocacy web site, returning to his native Cameroon in part toorganise communication and assistance for the imprisonedmen. In the spring of 2005, he co-founded, together with two gayactivist colleagues, Alternatives-Cameroun, a Cameroon-based humanrights organisation working to address homophobia and end
discrimination and abuse against lesbians, gay men, bisexual, and
transgender individuals.

Colonialism and an African voice

Although much of his career has been spent in Cameroon, Nana'sconcerns extend to the whole continent of Africa. "As LGBT Africans,we feel the vestiges of the long European colonial presence in ourcontinent," he has said. "We feel them when other -- Western,European, 'international' -- LGBT organisations speak on our behalfand we are left unheard. Only Africans can speak for Africans."

On the other hand, Nana also bristles at the oft-cited notion thathomosexuality is a foreign, colonial import alien to Africa. In arecent interview with a US-based journalist, Nana noted that"Homosexuality is not a colonial heritage. The ... evil that is partof the colonial heritage is homophobia and hatred."

Nana is a frequent media commentator on LGBT and HIV/AIDS matters,appearing on media outlets ranging from Radio France Internationale (RFI) to Chicago Public Radio.

Fighting HIV/AIDS

His work in the field of HIV and AIDS has paralleled his LGBT humanrights endeavours. In Cameroon, he has been active in various HIVprevention efforts targeting gay and bisexual men -- a high-risk grouproundly ignored in official Cameroon government HIV preventioncampaigns. Focusing on World AIDS Day -- December 1 -- Nana iscurrently coordinating a letter-writing campaign to the healthministries and national AIDS committees of all African countries,encouraging them not to ignore gay and bisexual men in their work.

Education and personal

Nana, who is fluent in English in addition to his native French,
Banso, and Medumba, has also studied German and Estonian. Nana is a graduate of the University of Yaounde.

See also

*Gay rights in Cameroon

*HIV/AIDS in Africa

*Human rights in Africa

*African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

External links

* [http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=cameroon&id=1392 Article by Nana on "La question homosexuelle en Afrique", a book by Charles Gueboguo on homosexuality in Africa]
* [http://gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17415836&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=569346&rfi=6 "U.N. Condemns Cameroon Jailings", article in "Gay City News", November 2, 2006, quoting Nana throughout]
* [http://www.rfi.fr/radiofr/editions/072/edition_19_20060621.asp RFI interview with Nana on June 21, 2006; listen online in French]
* [http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/programs/worldview/series/sex_honor.asp Chicago Public Radio interview with Nana on March 10, 2006; listen online]
* [http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?FileCategory=1&ZoneID=7&FileID=908 Juliet Victor Mukasa testimony at UNCHR]
* [http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=22354 Editions L'Harmattan, publisher's page for book by Charles Gueboguo on homosexuality in Africa]
* [http://www.galz.co.zw/ GALZ: Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe]
* [http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/content.php?type=1&id=71 IGLHRC Africa program]
* [http://www.ilga.org/countries_zone.asp?ZoneID=2 ILGA Africa]